Board Games home at the WonderWise Parent

	Board games are a great way for parents and children and couples to have fun together. The best games now on the market are being created in Germany. Games are popular in Germany because of family traditions of spending time together in the home. While American producers depend on traditional themes like Monopoly or commercially popular media themes like Survivor, German game creators focus on innovation, quality parts, and good game design. If you are a professional who is interested in implementing a Family Game Night in your community, go to the program implementation page. If you have used the material here to provide board game experiences for your family, we need to hear from you. Go to the program evaluation page to leave your comments.

	Family Time
	We live in a busy world in which time together is often lost in the buzz of activity. Setting aside a time to play board games (e.g., a Family Game Night) can bring fathers, mothers, and other loving adults together with children. Couples can pause for an evening to enjoy a good game. When played in the right spirit, games provide a shared experience in which the minds of those playing engage each other in challenging ways. Having fun together is the priority goal in playing board games.

	Learning
	Games also provide learning opportunities for children. Most games (especially those made in Germany) require an estimation of probabilities in risk taking. Dice may be rolled, the results dictating an outcome. Money may have to be counted, gained, and spent. Play involves operating within rules. Children have to think logically, often planning their next move when taking a turn. This taking turns is an important social skill that is a part of gaming. Many games challenge players to think under stress and be decisive in risk taking. Children can also learn to be gracious winners and gracious losers by watching how parents deal with winning and losing. They can learn how to manage disappointment, set aside their frustration to play again. When losing, they can stay focused in the game and persevere despite being behind. Good board games can make learning fun. Lousy board games are bored games. In the Board Games portion of The WonderWise Parent, we will recommend games to you in Reviews, describe a Family Game Night, answer common questions about playing games, and give you some hints on how to find these games to play. Links to review sites like Funagain Games and The Boardgame Geek are provided for each recommended game if you are interested in reading other opinions. We are not an affliate of any online game store so we do not profit if you decide to purchase any game we recommend.




	Home: Programs/Courses/Elements/Stories/Opinions/Humor/Games Contact us/Help http://www.ksu.edu/wwparent/games/index.htm-- Revised: April 18, 2003 Copyright © 1996-2002 Charles A. Smith. All rights reserved. Free counters provided by Andale.